Van ECK Associates Corp Has $6.58 Million Stake in Nova Ltd. $NVMI

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) by 51.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,444 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,238 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Nova were worth $6,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Nova during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Nova in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nova during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Nova by 75.7% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 2,042.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVMI has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nova from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Nova from $494.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Evercore set a $475.00 price target on shares of Nova in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Nova from $595.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $514.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nova

In other Nova news, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 2,966 shares of Nova stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.30, for a total value of $1,486,855.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 28,714 shares in the company, valued at $14,394,328.20. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sarit Sagiv sold 454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.52, for a total transaction of $243,580.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,046,750.52. This represents a 18.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 6,942 shares of company stock valued at $3,419,027 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nova Price Performance

NVMI stock opened at $349.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.27, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $423.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $465.79. Nova Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $232.73 and a fifty-two week high of $615.99.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $254.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.33 million. Nova had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 28.84%.The company’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Nova Ltd. will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

Nova announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, September 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Nova Company Profile

Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd (NASDAQ: NVMI) develops and supplies advanced metrology and process control systems for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company’s core product line includes spectroscopic ellipsometry and scatterometry tools designed to measure film thickness, critical dimensions, overlay alignment and other key parameters that drive yield and performance in integrated circuit fabrication.

Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, Nova Measuring Instruments has established itself as a critical partner to leading semiconductor foundries and device manufacturers.